West Indies head coach Daren Sammy is excited to see Shamar Joseph return to the international stage and was hugely impressed by the showing in the nets during the ongoing camp at Kensington Oval.
Sammy oversaw an intense seven-hour “training day” as West Indies look ahead to the first Test against Australia, which bowls off next Wednesday. The focus was on the workload of the young fast bowlers and Shamar Joseph was particularly impressive in a 36-ball burst from the Malcolm Marshall End.
“Today was a full day of ‘Test’ cricket as we had game-sense training. It was good to see Shamar run in and bowl those really good areas and so did all the other bowlers. The ability to consistently hit that six-metre mark was good to see and I enjoyed seeing the bowlers firing,” Sammy said.
The livewire Joseph is the X-factor for the upcoming series.
In January 2024, the 24-year-old made a dramatic entrance to the international scene in a dramatic Test debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. He dismissed Steve Smith with his first delivery in Test cricket and took five wickets in the match. He followed this up with a superb match-winning spell of 7-68 at the Gabba in Brisbane, leading the West Indies to their first Test victory in Australia in 27 years.
“Shamar, since he announced himself on the Test arena against Australia in these two Test matches Down Under, I would love to see him repeat those kinds of performances in the coming weeks here on home soil. We went back to see the preparations he had then, and the kind of work he had in his legs, and we tried to recreate that kind of situation,” Sammy said. (PS)
